I'd Like That Back Please

Ok, I have a post that I have been sitting on for about a week now. As you may know I flew to Ohio last week for a youth ministry conference. Well on the second part of my flight there I had a chance to read some of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer newspaper. As I was reading through it, there was a small story that caught my attention. I thought about sharing it then, but I never really had a good chance to write over the weekend. So I wanted to share it tonight. This just seems to say volumes about the state of our culture (at least to me).

The paper has a section (at least on this day they did) titled "5 Things You Should Know Today." This was the #5 thing in that section, but it seemed to stand out the most to me.

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that a court has rejected a New York surgeon's claim that he should get $1.5 million in his divorce settlement because he donated a kidney to his wife. In a ruling Tuesday, matrimonial referee Jeffery Grob says the kidney was a gift. It was donated in 2001, during happier times in the marriage. Grob says a wide range of items are considered marital property, but donated organs would not be among them.

What a crazy world. So, if you are thinking about donating any vital (or otherwise) organs to a spouse you better be dang sure that this is the real deal because you won't be able to get that back from them. It's not exactly like when you break off the engagement and ask for the ring back. Can you put organ donation in to a pre-nup you think?

Again it just kind of stands out that the guy wanted to get paid for doing something (the right thing even) for someone he loved (at least at some point). I think the funniest thing though is the fact that the "matrimonial referee" had to clarify that donated organs don't fall into the range of marital property. Peace and Love y'all.

Not Here

Man it has been a while it seems since the last time I wrote anything. I'm somewhat debating the amount of writing that I want to do, simply because I don't want to write stuff just to say that I wrote it, but rather I want it to be worth reading and so I want it to be that I have something to say...anyway, that is all beside the point.

I spent this last weekend in the state of Ohio at a youth ministry conference. It was a good conference and I enjoyed the opportunity to learn some new things and see what is out there to help with the field of youth ministry. On top of that I got to hang out with some family that I don't get to see very often so that was just like gravy...only not creamy, or brown or done with gibblets...that is an odd expression then when you really think about it...but I digress. The conference was good, but it is always nice to be home.

All of the above however is not what I wanted to actually write about tonight. I have something else that is on my mind actually that I wanted to share. All that other stuff is just to more or less get you caught up on where I have been as of late. What I wanted to write about is something that struck me last night as I was reading in the Book of Mark.

In chapter two of the Gospel of Mark, there was a passage that really caught my attention. It made me stop and ask the question "When did following Jesus become something that only respectable people can or should be allowed to do?"

Here is what got me started on this train of thought. In chapter 2, Jesus is going along headed back to Capernaum and he passes by the offices of Levi the tax collector (also known as the apostle Matthew). Jesus calls Levi to follow him, and he does. That is all in verses 13-14. Verse 15 goes on to say "Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus' followers.)" There, did you catch that? The next to last line mentions that there were "other disreputable sinners at the dinner", besides just tax collectors, who were bad enough. But the biggie is what we read in the parenthsises after that: There were many of this kind of people among Jesus' followers.

It wasn't that there were a few who tagged along on the edges. No there were many people of this kind among Jesus' followers. It was not the Pharisees who were following Jesus around. It was the rabble, the rough crowd, the people that no one else had much to do with. If you read on in verse 16 and following, you see what the response was of the Pharisees to this. They were appalled by the people that Jesus hung out with. Yet, there were many of them who followed Jesus.

I've been doing youth ministry for nearly 13 years now. There are two phrases that I completely hate to hear from people. The first is "We've never done it that way before." The second is this: "Well those aren't the kind of people that you would want showing up at church anyway." I can't stand to hear that from people. It's not just when it comes to the youth either.

It seems that these would be exactly the type of people you would want in church. These were the very people who were following Jesus to start with. Jesus' response to the Pharisees who said basically the same thing? He told them that he wasn't there to call the righteous but rather those who knew they were sinners in need of his grace.

I heard a story this past weekend of a church in Florida. The guy telling the story is a youth leader who was leading a training seminar at the church. He talked about the servant heart of the people of this church, both youth and adults. After the training was all done, he and his co-presentor went to dinner with the youth pastor of the church. In the course of the meal, they asked about how it was that this church was so loving and accepting and had such a servants heart. The youth pastor replied that as best he could tell it was the result of a prayer that the Senior pastor prayed everyday. What this man would pray was this: "God, send us the youth that no other church in town wants. Send us the adults that no other church in town wants."

So my question again is this: When did it become that it was only the respectable folks who could follow Jesus and come to church? Peace and Love y'all.

With Authority

That's just dang impressive to watch. And the girl actually dunks it with some power and authority. Regardless of if she is 6'8" or not, the most impressive thing about it is the fact that she is a SHE. You don't see it very often. Peace and Love y'all.

Questions about Judas

This year at Easter our church will be doing a small dramatic production as a Holy Thursday service. The production is called "Two Faces in the Shadows" and it deals with a dialogue going on between Peter and Judas. I think it will be very interesting really. I will be portraying Judas in it (thanks to Roni volunteering me at a worship committee meeting). Actually I don't mind playing that part. Besides, someone has to do it right?

Actually I have thought about Judas a lot in my life. Honestly there is a part of me that wants to be sympathetic to the guy. He was just doing his job right? Of course according to what John says about him in his Gospel, he was also stealing from the purse and was more concerned about money and power and prestige than he was about what Jesus was really teaching. He is a dark figure in the light of what Christ was and is.

The question that always comes to my mind is how in the world he could spend three years as a disciple of Jesus and not be affected by what he saw and heard on a daily basis. Yeah he was interested in his own power and prestige, but so were the other disciples. They argued about who was the greatest and who would have the seats of honor in Jesus' kingdom. But they eventually got it. If Judas had stuck around for a while longer, would he have gotten it too? I once heard the difference in the reactions for what he did and what Peter did was that Peter came back a broken man searching for forgiveness while Judas was overwhelmed with his choice and hung himself rather than awaiting the return of his Master.

So the question surfaced in my mind this morning about Judas. I have long wondered about where he ended up. Was he sentenced to Hades for what he had done, or will we see him in the Kingdom when that day comes? I have thought about the doctrine that Jesus descended into Hell in order to free the captives...those who didn't have an opportunity to know Him and his healing, freeing Grace and Love. And I have wondered if Judas could possibly be among those who were set free. It is a great thought to have really. Judas, the scoundrel, the betrayer, forgiven and released from what he had done. It was something that had to be done after all.

But the new question that played in my mind this morning was this: Is Judas perhaps an example of what Jesus tells us is the unforgivable sin, blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? From what I have understood of this, it is to be presented with the evidence of the Christ, of His Grace and Truth and to simply walk away and harden your heart and say that "I don't need this." Judas, it seems, fits into this understanding. He was there for three years with Jesus. He saw the miracles, heard the teachings, experienced the Grace and Love that were embodied in Jesus, and yet he turned away and betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. He made a choice to do this.

Truth be told there is a little bit of Judas in all of us. Granted it may not be that we turn our backs and walk away from Jesus. Rather we make the choice to betray Him by attempting to conform him to what we want rather than conforming our lives to what He desires for us. That is what Judas is guilty of. He sought to bend Jesus to what he wanted the Messiah to be rather than submitting himself to what the Messiah wanted him to be.

So will we see Judas worshiping and praising the Lamb who was slain when we finally reach that place? I have no idea honestly. It is just something that we will have to wait to find out. But until that day, I hope to live my life in a way that when I do find out the answer, people won't be pondering the same things about me as we do Judas. Peace and Love y'all.

12 Feet

This past weekend was the NBA All-Star Weekend in Phoenix. This is always a weekend that has some cool stuff that happens. Plus the game is usually really high scoring because no one cares too much about playing D. Of course the highlights of the weekend usually seem to be the various individual contests that go on, most notably the Three Point Shoot out and the Slam Dunk Contest.

The video below is of Dwight Howard's second round dunk. The rim is set at 12 feet. In case you didn't know already, the regulation height for the rim is 10 feet.



He made it look too easy. That is how I am able to dunk on an 8 foot goal. It's nice and easy and not really a reach. He even tried to get them to go higher after the one dunk, but they either weren't able to, wouldn't, or he ran out of time. It would have cool to see him do 13 feet though. Peace and Love y'all.